Zefiryn Ćwikliński “Pinus cembra”, 1926

Oil on cardboard, signed and dated lower right “Z. ĆWIKLIŃSKI 1926”, stamp on the reverse and hand written description “Ćwikliński Z. Limba (II)”.

Framed: 50x58 cm (30x38 cm)

Zefiryn Ćwikliński (Lviv 1871 - 1930 Zakopane) –Polish painter, known primarily for painting in the Tatra mountains. He graduated from high school in Lviv, then for a year, he studied philosophy at the University of Lviv, and later, after moving to Kraków - in the years 1887-1889 - studied at the Jan Matejko Academy of Fine Arts where he was the student of Florian Cynk, Władysław Łuszczkiewicz, Feliks Szynalewski and Izydor Jabłoński. In 1893, he received a scholarship and continued his studies at the Vienna Academy with a historical painter and portraitist Christian Griepenkerl. He specialized in historic paintings, portraits and those of different genres. With the lack of financial resources he was forced to return to the country. After returning home, he was a teacher of art in Brody and Jarosław. As a result of political conflicts with school authorities he was dismissed. In 1898 he went to Italy and Dalmatia, where he spent half a year studying landscape painting. In 1904 he was one of the Grupa Sześciu in Lviv. At first he created paintings of fairy-tale themes, he also worked as an illustrator (he published illustrations every Lviv fortnight in the "Faun" magazine, but also had illustrated books). He had been strongly influenced by Władysław Podkowiński. Around 1897 he also made landscape paintings of the area around Lviv. He arrived to the property of Stanisław Jerzy Hofmokl who in the village of Zarzecze bought an estate and mansion from the Kostheimów. When arriving he had painted landscapes and the Zarzecka chapel, "Zarzecze thought to be one of the most beautiful parts of Poland". In 1908 he settled in Zakopane and since then he painted mostly landscapes of the Tatra Mountains, which are shown at exhibitions. He created many postcards which popularized the Tatra Mountains and him in the region.